Can-closing machine



Patented Sept. 12, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

I E. 0. SMITH. CAN CLOSING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR--29, I922- E. D. SMITH.

CAN CLOSING MACHINE.

APPLlCATlON FILED APR.29| 1922.

1,428,992. ted pt 12, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2 E. D. SMITH.

CAN CLOSING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR 29,1922

Patented Sept. 12, 1922,,

3 SHEETS SHEET 3 Patented Sept. 12, 1922.

EARL D. SMITH, OF DELPHI, INDIANA.

CAN-CLOSING MACHINE.

Application filed April 29, 1922.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, EARL D. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Delphi, in the county of Carroll and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Can-Closing Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to can closing machines, and has for its object to provide a means that will more effectually close the cans than those heretofore proposed.

With this and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel parts and combinations of parts constituting the'can closing means, all as will be more fully hereinafter disclosed and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which like numerals designate like parts in all the views:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a well known type of can closing machine with my invention applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a sectional view of one form of can holding chuck before the-rubber or other friction material is applied thereto;

Figure 3 is a View of a chuck of a form slightly different from that shown in Figure 2, with a rubber gasket in place;

Figure 4: is an enlarged sectional View of a portion of the can closing mechanism shown in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a View similar to Figure 4, but showing the can in position to be closed;

Figures 6, 7 8 and 9 are sectional views partially broken away, illustrating certain steps of the can closing process;

Figures 10 and 11 are diagrammatic views illustrating-how the metal of the can seamis sometimes distorted by the machines in common use;

Figure 12 is a diagrammatic sectional illustration of the parts of a can seam before the closing process; a

Figure 13 is a sectional view of the completed seam;

Figure 14 is a plan view of the serrated can support employed during the can closing process; and

Figures 15 an 16 are iagrammatic i1- Serial No. 557,481.

lustrations showing how the can seams are sometimes indented or distorted during the can closing process prior to this invention.

In order that the precise invention may be the more clearly understood it is said: t is well known that tin cans are commonly automatically closed by highly specialized machines employing a plurality of rollers which revolve around the stationary rim of the can so fast that as many as sixty cans per minute may be closed air tight. But it is also well known that as certain parts of these automatic machines wear the seams around the rims of the cans become more and more defective, and this fact, owing to the enormous number of cans closed, causes in the aggregate very great financial losses every year. Therefore, this invention when more precisely stated. has for its ob ect to provide a means for very greatly lessenlng these losses, and, in fact, to substantially eliminate them. I

Referring more especially to Figure 1, there is illustrated a well known type of can closing machine now in general use, wherein 1 indicates generally well known mechanism for automatically feeding the cans to a support 3, and l represents the well known means for carrying away the cans after they have been closed. Each can 2 is automatically elevated by the well known means 5, and its associated parts, until a chuck such as 20. Figure 9, is fitted tightly into the cavity of its head, so that the can is held firmly against rotation between said chuck 20 and said support 3. In order to prevent the rotation of the can around its vertical axis during the closing operation, the surface of the support 3 is serrated as at 7 (Figure 14) and so long as these serrations bite into the bottom rim of the can little or no trouble with leaks through the seams is experienced, for the can is effectually prevented from rotating under the action of the seam forming or crimping rollers. That is, the closure parts of the can are subjected to the action of a plurality of seam forming rollers 8 and 9, at first when in the position they occupy in Figure 12 wherein the lip 10 of the edge of the cover 11 overhangs the outwardly flared edge 13 of the body of the can 2, and a seam closing roller 14 co-acts with the lip 10 to roll the parts into the positions shown in Figure 7, all in a manner well known,

While the roller 14 is thus forming a rolled or rounded seam around the rim of the can, it is followed by a second roller 15, which flattens out the seam as is illustrated in Figures 8 and 9.

In other words, as is well. known, there are a plurality of rollers such as 14' and 15 which are supported on thememb er 16 (Figures 4 and 5), and which revolve so rapidly around the rim of the can while the latter is held stationary between the chuck 20 and the serrated bottom support 3, that the rim seams 1.7 are often rolled, flattened, and finished in the short space of less than a second. so that the entire operation is very rapid indeed,

But if air tight seams are to be pro duced, it is well known that the old style of chuck 20, Figure 9, has to fit the cavity in the can head snugly, as illustrated in said figure. But again as said chii 'ck, of necessity, has to enter into and to be with drawn fromcan hea dswith great rapidity, it is evident that in time its rim 31 must wear, so that a loose fit inevitably results, as indicated at 21, in Figure 8 Further, as the cans are automatically fed to the steel serrated surface 7 and may bejammed tightly thereon, at the rate one a second, it is evident that said surface soon wears also, with the result that with the old type of chuck 20 the crimping or seaming rollers in time will, during their can closing operations,v cause some of the cans operated on to turn around theiryertical axes. for there is found to be not enough friction between the metal surface of the bottom of the chuck 20, and the can top 11 to prevent this rotation of the can.

When this rotation occurs, instead of the rollers continuing their travel around the can rim, theycarry the said rim around with them, and thus operate on a single spot, or point, of the rim, instead of around the entire circumference thereof. This single spot may occur at any point of the circumference, but it usually occurs at or near the vertical side seanr22 of the can (see Figure 15), and a depression or indentation 23 is thus formed in the rolled seam.

When this dent 23' occurs near the seam 22, some of the previously rolled portion 2 1- of the seam formed by the rounded groove 25. of the roller 14, is left undisturbed, while another part of said rolled portion 24L hasbeen flattened as at 26 (see Figures, 15 and 16) by the'flattened groove 27 of the roll 15. The result is where the flattened and rounded portions of the seam meet, a lack of uniformity the seam occurs, which latter gives rise to a leak, all as is further well known. 7 I i This defect is often aggravated due to the fact that owing to the presence of the vertical seam 22, and the extra thickness of metal at such spots as 23, other distortions as indicated .at 28 and 29,- are found'on the inside of the can'rim'.

But as above stated so long as the parts are new and no wear has occurred, or so long as the can body does not rotate on its vertical axis, the above mentioned objections are not found to take place.

'On the other hand, even when such rotation does not occur, a second set of defects develop in the machines'at present in use as follows: hen the old stylech'uck 20 fits tightly the can head as it must do and as is illustrated in "Figure 9, it is sometimes found that the metal of the can" rim opposite thevertical seam 22 is forced over and forms a thin lip or projection 30 as indicated in said figure. lVhenthis occurs, the sudden jerking or forcing the chuck rim 31 out of the cavity of the can head lifts and tears out said lip 30 or carries it from the position shown in Figure 9 to that shown in Figures 10 and 11 'The result is a leak at the point 32, Figure 11.

Although it is recognized that the" fore goingsourc'es of leaks means as now'se'a'led by the machines in use apply'toa' very small percentage of the cans closed in this country,yet, when it is realizedjthat the total number of cans operated'on is'so/larg'e' as to make the financial losses due to these leaks very great, the problem of stopping thembecomesof tremendous importance. One can not increase the friction between the bottom of the can and the supporting surface because. this One cannot prevent the rims 31 of the chucks 20 from wearing and permitting the" cans torotate owing tothe very hard usage to which they are subjected inip'ractice, and

besides even if one could prevent this wear;

the lips would form anyway,'andcause a very considerable financial loss 1nv thernselves, and heretofore there has seemedno' way to proceed except to find out the above defects after the leaks and losses had occurred, and to then renew the parts which every canner knows is both vexati'ous and costly. V x

In carrying out this invention", on "the other hand, I have solved the above problem and, avoided the above objections by.

surface must be smooth to permit the cans to be fed there to, and fed therefrom with greatcelerity.

40. The lower edge 42 of this gasket preferably extends slightly below the lower edge 43 of-the'chuck, as illustrated in Figures 1, 3 and 6, to facilitate the operation, as will presently appear.

In providing the friction means 40, I do not disturb in any manner the parts nor the operation of the highly specialized and complicated machines now in common use, which is an important feature of this invention, for otherwise, all sorts of troubles would be encountered.

In the operation of this invention, the prior machines are equipped with the improved chuck 6 having the gasket 40. The cans are fed to the serrated supporting surface 7 in the usual manner; said cans are jammed up against the surface 42 of the gasket 40 in the usual manner. The chuck 6 is cut away at the points 75 and 76, to accommodate the rubber 40 when compressed, (see Figure 7), and in operation said surface 42 is raised from the position shown in Figure 6 to'that shown in Figure 7 due to the compression of the said gasket 40. Friction is accordingly generated between said surface 42 and the can top 11 when the crimping action of the rollers begin which is sufficient to prevent the can from rotating on its vertical axis whether or not the rim of the chuck 6 is worn, or whether or not the surface 7 is smooth. In fact, actual tests have shown that it is a positive advantage to have the rims of the chucks 6 slightly smaller than the cavity in the can top, for it is found that with these loosely fitting rims indicated in Fig ure 8, the burs or lips 30 are not so liable to form, and when they do form, owing to the smaller size of the rims 45, they are more easily disengaged from the can tops without tearing the metal in the manner indicated at 32, than is the case when larger rims 45 are employed.

It is a distinct advantage to have the surface 42 of the rubber 40 project slightly below the surface of the chuck 6, because the can cover 11 is steadied and held firmly in place before the crimping rollers 14 touch it. And to this end the cut away portions and 76 are important for they permit the rubber to spread out, and thereby permit the chuck rim to enter the cavity in the can top.

It therefore results that with the employment of my improved chucks one is enabled to seal cans as tightly and with as much certainty when using worn chucks and serrated supports as when using new ones. Also, one in all cases when using my improvements is less liable to produce leaks through tearing the seams as illustrated at 30. As a matter of fact, I have made tests which showed that out of 24,000 cans closed with the prior chucks 20, about 400 proved defective from the above causes, while out of 72,000 closed-with a worn base plate 3 and a chuck employing my gasket 40, not a single seam proved defective. When it remembored that there are probably over four hillion cans closed annually inthis country, it will be realized that a saving of even 200 cans out of 24,000 will be an immense im provement. On the other hand, I have every reason to believe that this invention will substantially eliminate the entire loss now sustained.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction as, well as the arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention, and therefore I do not wish ,to'be limited to the above disclosure except as may be required by the claims.

What is .claimed is: 1. The process of automatically closing cans which consists in feeding said cans to a support; raising said cans successively into a gripping contact between said support and a compressible friction generating surface with a force sufficient to prevent said cans from rotating on their axes during the crimping operation; and while so held against rotation ontheir axes revolving a plurality of crimping rollers around and in contact with the rims of said cans to effect air tight closures, substantially as described.

2. The process of automatically closing cans which consists in feeding said cans successively to a support; raising said cans successively into a gripping contact between said support and a yielding friction generating surface with a force sufiicient to prevent rotation on their axes; and while so held acting successively on the rim of each can with crimping rollers having different crimping surfaces to efiect gas tight closures, substantially as described.

3. In an automatic can closing machine, the combination of a can support; a can holding chuck provided with a yielding friction generating material; means adapted to cause said can to be gripped and held against rotation between said surface and said support and the said material deformed during the crimping operations; a plurality of crimping rollers adapted to successively act on the rim of said can; and means to revolve said rollers around and in contact with said rim to efiect an airtight closure, substantially as described.

4. In an automatic can closing machine the combination of a can support; a can holding chuck provided with a yielding friction generating surface of an annular form; means adapted to cause said can to be gripped and held against rotation during the, crimping operatlons between said surface and said support;- a plurality of crimping rollers having crimping surfaces ofdif ferent forms adapted tosuccessively act'on the rim of said can; and means to revolve said rollers around and in contact with said rim to eifectan air tight closure,'substanti'al'ly as described.

' 5, In an automatic can closing machine the combination of a can support; a can holding chuck adapted to enter .a depression in the top of the can and provided with a yielding friction generating material normally extending below the face of said chuck, adapted to contact with the bottom of. said depression and to hold said can against rotation on its axis during the crimpin'g operations; lifting meansadapted to cause said material to be deformed and saidcan to'be gripped and held against rotation between said surface and said support; a plurality of crimping rollers adapted to successively acton the rim of said can; and means to revolve said rollers around, andin contact with, said rim-toefl'ect an air t1ght closure, 'substantiallyas described.

process of automatically closing the same, which comprises a rim adapted" to enter the cavity in the cantop andwhos'elower face is provided with a deformablecompressible friction generating material adapted to prevent the rotation of the cans during thecrimping operations,- substantially as detoxezipa-nd into the space, formed by said v cutaway edge' substantiallyas described.

:In'testimony whereof-I afiix my signature. D. SMITH.

6. A. chuckfor holding cans during the i 

